Scythe to offer transparent, open air desktop PC case

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Transparent cases seemed to be all the rage a few years ago, but I never invested in one mainly because they carried a premium price. They also only looked great if you added a bunch of lights inside, and even then you’d probably end up hiding the case under your desk.

Now Japanese manufacturer Scythe is launching a rather unusual new transparent case that has an additional feature: it’s an open case. What that means is there are no side panels to encase the components. Instead, everything is left open to the air (and dust) around them.

The Scythe ACB-TYPE3 may seem like a mistake from a dust point of view, but it could be the ideal case for someone who regularly tests different components and wants quick access to them. It also opens up the cooling options you have somewhat. For example, you could mount as big a fan as you want on the side of this case, or even completely independently of it.

While open, it’s certainly not small and has space for three 5-inch drives, three 3.5″ drives, and two 2.5″ drives. It will work with ATX, micro-ATX, and mini-ITX boards and there’s no chance of you breaking it due to the use of 5mm thick acrylic. In terms of weight, there’s definitely a saving due to it being an open case. As a comparison, the fully-enclosed transparent Scythe ACC-ATX case weighs 5.2kg. The ACB-TYPE3 is only 3.4kg.

For the moment the ACB-TYPE3 is only appearing on the Japanese Scythe website, but it’s likely a number of component stores will order stock. It’s certainly a different take on a PC case and one some rig builders are sure to want to experiment with, especially as the price tag is only $85.